Method of making shoes



A 23 192 mg 7 M. F. BROGAN METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Original Filed Nov. i

Patented Au 23, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL I. BROGAN, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PA'I'ERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Original application filed November 4, 1920, Serial 110.421,!50. Divided and this application filed October 18, 1928. Serial No. 669,427.

This invention relates to improvements in turn shoe making and more particularly to a novel method of preparing turn soles for lasting which adds quality to the finished shoe and erfects the shoe making process.

Hereto ore, in order to secure proper operative relation between the needle and the work during the sole-sewing operation, it has been the prctice to mould or break down the margins of turn soles before the soles have been secured to the last, by means of a machine which feeds the margin of the sole progressively past the moulding tools such, for example, as the moulding machine '15 disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States, No.'1,110,637, granted Se tember 15, 1914, on the ap lication of illlam 0. Meyer. After being moulded the soles are usually stacked one on top of another and 1t has been found that owing to the necessary delay before the assembling operatlon is performed the moulded margins of the soles have a tendency to return to their normal flat condition. Should this flattening of the margin occur there is interference with the action of the needle durin the upper sewing operation resulting in a lsplaced seam and a crippled shoe. p I

In view of the foregoing, an object of the presentinvention is to improve the method of making turn shoes in a manner that will insure a location of the seam, which secures the upper to the solo, at the base of the marginal sewing-rib or shoulder, or in such marginal location on unribbed turn soles as will preserve the proper outline and desired appearance of the shoe.

y the present method it is proposed to assemble the turn sole blank with the last then mould, or break down, the margin of the sole to prepare itfor the upper sewing operation and without removing the sole, to

- assemble and last the upper in position over.

thebroken down margin. Those skilled in the art are aware that in making turn shoes two lasts are used, the first last having a bottom of less area than the area of the turn sole. After assembly with such a last the mar n of the sole pro'ects beyond the edge of t e last and the re ative proportionsof the last and sole are such that the edge of the last lies alon the margin of the sole at the line where t e angular moulding break. should properly be made. The edge OI'TthB.

last may, therefore, conveniently be used as an anvil over which the mar 'n of the sole may correctly be moulded. ith the sole thus moulded, and before an opportunity is given for a' return of the moulded margin to its original condition, the remainder of the shoe is assembled on the last, the upper lasted in place, and the shoe sewed. In completing the turn shoe, the usual method is followed.

The method may be practised in making turn shoes in which either channeled or unchanneled soles are embodied; and it has been found advantageous to perform the margin moulding operation in two stages, i. e. a side moulding operation and a toe moulding operation. The sole margins at the sides'of the sole,having slight curves, can be .broken down with greater facility and accuracy by pressure applied progressively to small portlons of the area to be moulded, while the more sharply curved toe portion of the sole, especially where the sole is of the peaked toe t pe, can be broken down with greater faci ity and accuracy by pressure applied simultaneously over the whole area about the too, thus avoiding any dragging effect of a progressively moving tool which the sharp curvature of the sole at this point might inadequately enable it to support.

A machine for effectively moulding the, margins of turn soles, after assembly on the last, is disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 421,750, filed November 4, 1920, of which this application is a division. It is preferred to use a machine of the type disclosed in said parent application to perform the step of breaking down the mar of the sole while on the last, and a description of that machine will assist in understanding-the present method. The machine shown is a riurling machine of the general t pe disclosed in Letters Patent of the nited States, No. 768,560, granted August 23, 1904, to Louis A. Casgrain, properly modified to suit the requirements of the present invention. i

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aview partially in side elevation and partially in section, of the upper ortion'of a machine of the type above speclfied; Fig. 2 is a view, 1n front elevation and on an enlarged scale, of

the operating instrumentalities of the machine, showing a last having a turn sole aecured thereto in position to be operated u on; Fig. 3 is aninverted plan view of tl e moulding tool for operating upon thetoe of the sole; and Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the work support or guide.

The frame of the machine, the face plate 12, the tool-carrier 14, and the rotary hammer 16, mounted on the driving shaft 18 for imparting a rapid succession of percussive blows to the tool-carrier, all may be, and preferably are, of the same design as like parts in the patent toC'asgrain, hereinbefore referred to. The driving shaft 18 is is indicated at 24, in Figs. 1 and 2. The

moulding tool 24 comprises a rectangular block which is rigidly secured to the tool carrier 14 to vibrate rapidly therewith as the latter is acted upon by the rotary hammer 16. To this end a hole 26 '(Fig. 1)

is bored transversely through the moulding tool 24 to receive a cylindrical stud 28. c0nveniently formed by machining a tool-sustaining projection with which the tool-carrier 14 of said nurling machine is provided The tool 24 is located, with its length vercurvature thereto.

tically disposed, by means of a shoulder 30 (Fig. 1) which is formedon the tool-carrier to engage the upper end of the tool. The tool 24 is rigidly secured to the.tool-carrier by means of a binding screw 32 that is threaded into an axial recess in the stud 28, the head of the screw 32 bearing against a washer 34 which, in turn, bears against the front face of the tool. The moulding f the lateral margins of the sole is performed by one or more moulding faces at the lower end of the moulding tool 24. such as are indicated at ,38 and 40 in Fig. 2. These moulding faces are so proportioned as to engage the margin of the sole throughout only a comparatively small portion of Its length at one time and are'shaped to impart the desired amount of transverse In operation the sole is slowly drawn across the moulding face of the rapidly vibrating moulding tool 24, the operator preferably first presenting to said face therearmost point in that portion of the lateral margin which is to be moulded and then slowly drawing the last forwardly to progressively mould the sole margin until the tool reaches a point near the toe of the sole. The breaking down may be aided by rubbing the sole back and forth under the tool.

To avoid the necessity of turning the last end for end, after one lateral edge of the sole has been moulded, in order to bring the opposite lateral edge thereof into the field of operation of the moulding tool, it is preferred to provide a pair of oppositely disposed moulding faces upon the tool 24.

To this end the moulding face 38 is formed at the-left side of the moulding tool and arranged to. operate upon the margin of the sole at one side and a similar moulding face 40 is formed at the right side of the moulding tool and arranged to operate upon the -margin of the sole at the other side. With this construction after one lateral edge of the sole has been operated upon by one of the moulding faces, the operator may readily present the opposite lateral edge of the sole to the other moulding face by merely shifting the sole laterally beneath the tool. Thus the operator is relieved of the extra labor involved in the turning of the last, and considerable time is saved at each sole moulding operation.

, To assist in locating the sole relatively to the moulding tool 24, and to maintain the sole in position to receive the blows delivered by the moulding tool and atthe proper transverse angle for the most advantageous operation thereof, an abutment is provided against which the upper or ex-" posed face of the sole may be pressed. The

abutment, or sole support, is carried at the lower end of a vertical post 44 which is received in a socket formed in a block 46, the latter corresponding-to a similar block in the machine of the patent to Casgrain, hereinbefore referred to. The post 44 is rigidly I but adjustably secured in the socket of the block 46 by means of a suitable clamping screw 47 this construction permitting such vertical adjustment of the support relatively to the moulding tool 24 as may be required in order to secure the best results from the action of said tool.- As best shown in Fig. 4, the sole support comprises a yokeshaped member having parallel work-engaging arms 42 which project horizontally on 5 opposite sides of the moulding tool 24. The

arms 42 are adapted, by engagement with i the upper face of the sole as the latter 'is pressed upwardly against said arins by the operative during the moulding operation, to 1 mouldin illustrated in Fig.2, since it has been found that the margin may be more readily moulded into the'required transverse curvature when the sole is thus supported. The

width of each arm 42 is such as to provide 42 and the sole as the latter is drawn across said arms, and also to avoid the closing of the channel in the sole by the arms, the lower face of each arm is but away, as indicated at 48 in Fig. 2, so that it will engage the sole upon opposite sides of the channel but will not rub against the channel flap.

It is difficult, especially when operating upon soles having pointed tees, for the operative to swing the last to effect the moulding of the margin at the tip of the toe without injuring the sole. In accordance with this invention, conveniently before or after the opposite marginal portions of the sole have been moulded by drawing said portions successively across the moulding faces on the tool 24, the marginal portion about the tip of. the toe is presented to a' second moulding tool 50 which is secured to the upp'er portion of the moulding tool 24 and vibrates. with the latter. The tool '50 is of substantial V-sha e as shownin Fi 3, to conform to the s ape of the toe, an is provided with a cylindrical projection 52 which is received in a'iihole bored transversely through the u per pportion of the tool 24, and securely astened therein by means of a suitable binding stud 54 (Figs. '1 and 2). The forks forming the sidesof the tool 50 project forwardly from the tool 24 in a substantially horizontal plane, and the lower or acting side is curved transversel to form a continuous concave ace similar to the faces 38 and 40 of t e ,tool 24. The rticular cross sections of the lower or acting faces of both of the moulding tools will vary since the tools are shaped to conform to. the requirements of the manufacturer.

Before or after both lateral edges of the sole have been operated upon by the moulding tool 24, the toe of the sole is presented to the rapidly vibrating toe moulding tool 50, the operator pressing upwardly on the last to hold the sole against the under mouldin face of the tool, and is held in contact t erewith until the projecting margin about the tip of the toe is moulded or broken down over the edge of the last to the required extent. It will be observed that the moulding tool 50 is located in front of and above the vplane of the abutment 42 to avoid possibility of interference by the latter with the moulding operation at the toe.

When, in accordance with the usual custom, the margin of a turn sole is moulded before the sole is secured to the last, there is necessaril considerable delay and additional handlmg of the sole before the upper sewing operation. Largely on account of this delay and partly on account of the way in which the soles are handled afterbeing moulded and before being secured to the last in the assembling operation, there is a marked tendency for the moulded margin to return to its normal flatcondition, as hereinbefore set forth, If, however, the sole is secured to the last before its margin is moulded, no such tendency is present since the upper may be immediately assembled on the last with the sole and lasted, making .the shoe at once ready for the performance of the upper sewing operation.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the moulding of the margin of a turn sole after the sole has been secured to the last is accomplished rapidly and efi'ec' tively by practising the above described method, and that either the lateral portion of the margin or the toe may be moulded first, as the operator may elect, without detracting from the final result.

In turn shoemaking the first last isreduced in size so that its bottom edge is opposite the shoulder on the flesh side of the sole which forms the striking shoulder for the needle. Thus the last edge is properly fected and superior shoemaking is attained,

and the preferred manner of practising it, what is claimed as new, is

1. The method of preparing turn soles for lasting which comprises assembling a turn sole with a last. and breaking down the entire shank and forepart margin of the sole by pressure on that portion of the margin which projects beyond the edge of the last rior to the first lasting operation.

2. e method of preparing turn soles for lasting which comprises assembling a turn sole with a last. and breaking down the 'margin over the edge of the last by pressure applied simultaneously along an extended portion of said margin.

3. The method of preparing turn soles for lasting which comprises assembling a turn sole with a last, and breaking down the margin of the sole about the tip of the toe over the toe and of the last by ressure applied simultaneously to the w ole of the margin from a point at one side of the tip to a point at the other side thereof.

4. The method of preparing soles for turn shoes for the lasting operation which comprises assembling a sole on a last with its margin extending over the edge of the last, breaking down the projecting margin at the lateral edges of the sole by a pressure applied progressively on small portions of said margin, and breaking down the margin at the tip of the toe and sides adjacent said tip by a pressure. applied simultaneously about the entire too.

5. The method of preparing soles for the lasting operation for turn shoes which comprises securing the sole to a last bottom of less area than the sole whereby the edge of the last is adapted to act as an anvil over which the margin may be broken. down, and then pounding down the margin over said edge progressively along each lateral edge of the sole and simultaneously upon both sides at the ti of the toe.

6. The method of making turn shoes which comprises assembling a turn sole with a last, breaking down the projecting margin by a moulding pressure on said margin, and then assembling and lasting an upper over said broken down margin.

7. The method of making turn shoes which comprises temporaril securing a previously shouldered turn so e on a last and locating said sole on the last by placing the shoulder opposite the edge of the last bottom, then moulding the margin of the sole which is outside of said shoulder, and thereafter assembling an upper on the last and lasting said upper over the moulded sole margin. 7 8. That step in the method of making turn shoes which consists in moulding the margin of the sole, after assembly on a last and prior to the assembly of the upper on the last, in two stages, to wit: at the lateral edges thereof and about the tip of the toe. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. MICHAEL F. BROGAN. 

